


The Man Who Speaks in Your Hands

by msbigboots, QuintessenceA



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Blue is a manipulative brat, Oedipal Issues, Possession, Red is a protective Dad, Slim is a problem solver, Swapfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underlust Papyrus (Undertale), Underlust Sans (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-01-16 11:34:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18520669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msbigboots/pseuds/msbigboots, https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessenceA/pseuds/QuintessenceA
Summary: Woo! This monster is done! I came into this with three things:1- Gaster wants a body, and Gothic's is the easiest because of his magical wound.2- The host has to willingly give up their magic.3- Gothic is a suspicious bastard and will have to be convinced.For those reading descriptions, Gothic is the OC son of Red and Edge created by MsBigBoots. I call him a sociopath with a heart of gold.





	The Man Who Speaks in Your Hands

Gothic watched as Sans pressed the button on the telelporter remote. There was a small ripping noise, and the two of them were gone before Graffiti could even finish waving goodbye. Gothic was alone.

The taste of jealousy was bitter in his mouth. There was a whole other universe out there stuffed to the brim with happy, healthy monsters. On the surface even, free from the tyrant, the senseless violence, the lv hunters. Monsters with the ability to teleport at will, but still he's stuck with everyone else down here to dust quietly in the dark. Why didn't anyone help them? How could they be so cruel? Did no one care? 

If he could go up there he'd get that technology and free everyone from this hellhole.

And now, his dad too. He gets to take the princess back to fairyland while his family remains in Hell. How was that supposed to be fair? What if he never came back? What if he just takes the shortcut away to the sunshine and decided that's where he wants to stay?

Gothic blinked. Shortcut away… 

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the spot where they had disappeared. With his magic, he reached out, curious. It was faint, but there it was, lingering in the air like the afterimage of a flipped off lightbulb. It felt just like the magic he used in his shortcuts. If he could only…

Gritting his teeth, Gothic tried to focus his magic harder. There! The tunnel of light, the shortcut, it was there! He could see it! He just had to touch it… but it was too far, too faint for him to use!

As he watched, it began to fade even further. No! He was so close! Struggling to keep his focus, he reached out with his magic, pushing harder and further until darkness began to creep around the edges of his vision.

And then the darkness spoke.

% I can help you with that… if you will allow it… %

Gothic gasped aloud as pain filled his senses, a sudden migraine blooming into life behind his eye sockets. It seemed to focus on the old wound near the crown of his skull, needles jabbing right through the half-healed puncture crack and into his skull.

It made him dizzy, and he dropped to his patellae, clutching his head as he fought to stay focused on the shortcut in front of him. "Who, what the fuck are you?"

% I am the one… with the power… to help you… through the passageway… %

Maybe it was the agony overriding his skepticism, but the voice spoke with such confidence, so completely self-assured in its own power that Gothic couldn't help but feel that it was the truth. The darkness moved, flowing around him like a warm fog as he continued to kneel on the floor, gasping as he pulled his beanie tightly against his head. The pain receded, dulling to a throb as the voice continued speaking. 

% I will send you through… %

"Yeah?" Gothic asked, fixing his beanie as he felt his Soul skipped a beat. He wanted this, wanted this so badly. But he knew there had to be a cost. "And what exactly do you want in return?"

% I only wish… to go there as well… I'm... not strong enough by myself… %

It was an admission of weakness, and Gothic automatically didn't trust that. But he couldn't deny that the voice sounded so sad, so lonely.

% There is… no time... The wormhole is destabilizing… Please… %

The shortcut flickered, disappearing completely for a moment before reappearing, even weaker than before. Gothic cried out as he crawled a step closer, throwing more magic at it, trying desperately to pull it back, to keep it open, but it wasn't working.

"No, no-no-no!" His grip was slipping, he couldn't hold it any longer. If he didn't do something, and fast, the shortcut was going to close for good, leaving his dad and Graffiti on the other side, and him here, alone, trapped again "Fine! What do I need to do?"

There was a new sensation, a painful tugging at his soul. He could feel his magic trying to follow it, and Gothic struggled against it out of reflex, fighting to keep himself closed off from the darkness that called to him.

% Release your magic to me… Just a little… I will do the rest… %

Gothic hesitated, sudden doubt filling him with a worried, unfocused kind of dread. The darkness began to withdraw.

% Alright… If you do not wish to follow them… %

"No, wait!" Gothic shouted, panic at being left behind breaking through his uncertainty. "Please, I'll do it!" He let go, forcing himself to relax his grip on his magic and it immediately began to flow away from him. Towards the darkness.

The warm feeling around his bones suddenly turned cold, gripping him tightly. It was both alike and yet unlike blue magic, an embrace of pure ice wrapping his Soul. 

"Wh- what…" Gothic tried to shout, but it came out as hardly more than a whisper. "What are you doing?"

% Don't be afraid… This is necessary… % The voice whispered as a feeling of icy fingers ghosted across the surface of his skull. They reached the crack, pressing in lightly, and Gothic winced with pain. 

% Hold on... This might sting a bit… %

The ethereal fingers dug in, and searing, screaming PAIN ripped through him. It shot in violent streaks of lightning from the hole in his skull and down his right arm. Gothic tried to jerk back on his knees, but the pain only followed. 

% Shh... you are fine... but we must hurry… % 

Terrified, he looked down at his arm, expecting it to be shattered like glass, or halfway to dust with how badly it HURT. But as far as he could tell his arm looked perfectly normal, until it raised up on its own accord. Without Gothic's command or control, his arm reached out towards the shortcut, feeling as if he were dragging it through an open flame.

Inky black darkness began to pool in his palm, wrapping sinuously around his metacarpal bones and creating a soothing oasis of nothingness from the pain. Gothic concentrated on that spot, doing his best to block out everything else from his mind. The darkness began to spread, flowing outwards from the tips of his phalanges towards the shortcut. 

Tendrils of pure nothingness poked and prodded at what looked like dead air, until one seemed to catch on something Gothic couldn't see. The other tendrils moved to follow, flowing to the same point, and there was a soft ripping sound as the very fabric of space and time was pulled apart, each tendril tugging a different direction until there was a tear in reality directly in front of him. 

Through the hole, Gothic could now see the shortcut as clearly as one of his own, the tunnel of light connecting the Here with the There.

As far as he could tell, the shortcut opened up into a normal room. Walls, lights, a ceiling. From his vantage point on the ground, Gothic couldn't see anything to indicate that it was different than any other room anywhere in the Underground. But something inside him, something in his soul, knew that on the other side was an alternate universe.

The hole wavered, and Gothic cried out as the dark tendrils shuddered, the pain in his arm spiking sharply.

% What... are you waiting for...? I cannot hold this all day...! You must move...! %

Careful not to jar his... strange... arm, Gothic hurriedly crawled to his feet and sprinted towards the shortcut. He dove through it and the darkness and pain both retreated from his arm, leaving only a lingering sort of dull ache as if he'd slept on it wrong in the night.

Gothic could still feel the darkness though, as it lingered, swirling around and inside his skull, centered around the puncture wound like it was some sort of anchor line. It wasn't painful, hardly as noticeable as a shadow. Gothic wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it but it was hard to focus on something so insubstantial as he realized where he was.

He was in another Universe! Taking in his new surroundings, he felt giddy. This was it! All he needed to do now was find his dad, get the technology, and he could get everyone out!

Looking around the room, Gothic saw that it was remarkably similar to his own basement at home. Except that everything inside didn't look nearly half as broken, and it was twice as clean. Just like at home, in one corner was the Machine, bright and gleaming under fluorescent lights that actually worked.

% The wormhole generator... % The darkness said. Its voice was fainter than before, but he could still make out the words.

"You know what that is?" Gothic asked, and he couldn't keep the surprise out of his question.

% I do... it is the interdimensional teleportation system... that I designed... %

"That you de- what? No way, this is my dad's machine, he made it back in the days when he worked at the Core-"

% No...! Mine...! % 

The Darkness screamed in the loudest whisper Gothic had heard yet. 

% Liar...! Thief...! My designs...! My plans...! Mine…! MINE! % 

Needle-like spikes of pain burst out from the crack in his head, and Gothic winced, his hand going up to cup at the wound.

As quickly as it flared up it faded again, as the darkness retreated back to a shadow.

% Apologies... I let my emotions… It will not happen again... %

"Fuck, that smarts. Who, or what are you, anyway?"

% My name is Gaster... Doctor WD Gaster... Former Royal Scientist… of the Underground... %

The voice was full of pride, obviously expecting Gothic to be awestruck by the declaration. Gothic just shrugged. He knew that Doctor Alphys held the title of Royal Scientist now, but he'd never bothered to give any thought to who might have come before her.

Although he didn't say it out loud, the darkness, Gaster, seemed to understand anyway.

% You… you've never heard of me…? %

"I'm sorry," Gothic replied, the profound sorrow and heartbreak in the doctor's voice so strong that apologizing was automatic.

% All my accomplishments… everything I've done to help monsterkind… still stands… but my greatest achievement… my family... does not even know my name... %

"Your, what? Your family?" Gothic asked.

% Indeed... I am your grandfather... Sans and Papyrus… are my sons... I have only wanted to help monster kind… %

The doctor's voice was growing weak, as if the conversation was draining him. Gothic had to struggle to make out the words.

% I created the teleporter… the dimensional boxes… the Core… the system that powers the whole of the Underground... but I fell… into my creation… shattered across reality… I was pushed… %

"Who, who would do that?" Gothic whispered, drawn in by the soft tone. There was no response. "Doct-?"

"Why hello, tall, dark and handsome~" A new voice purred from right behind him, and Gothic turned to see-

"D- Daddy?!" Gothic choked, incredulous. 

The newcomer laughed. "Oh, no, I sure hope not. If your dad's a Sans though, I can see where the confusion comes from. Around here, they call me Lust."

Gothic couldn't stop staring. Lust looked just like his dad. Exactly like his dad. But that outfit… That was a lot of exposed bones. The too short crop top, the tight pants, even his boots were sexy. Lust was a very, very fitting name. And that top, oh wow, that was short. Gothic could see his floating ribs, his spine, the curves of his iliac crests, even the top… of his…

A bony hand, wrapped in a tight leather, fingerless glove dropped into his field of view, crooking a phalange upwards. 

"Heya, sugarplum, my eye lights are up here," Lust said, but he sounded pleased. Gothic could feel his face flushing purple as he looked back up into Lust's smiling face.

"O-oh, sorry," Gothic stammered.

"Aw, sweetie, you sure know how to make a monster feel wanted, don't ya?" Then Lust gave a breathy laugh that Gothic knew was going to haunt his fantasies for months. "If you want though, I'd be happy to be your 'Daddy'."

Lust took a step forward, right into Gothic's personal space. He reached up, placing a warm hand on Gothic's sternum. The beat of Gothic's Soul ratcheted up to high gear, and he could see it in Lust's eye lights that he noticed. And approved.

"Do me a favor, sugarplum?" Lust asked sweetly, staring at Gothic with half-lidded eyes. "Say it again."

"…Daddy," Gothic breathed. Who was he to refuse? 

Lust shivered, his eyes closing for a moment in delight. "Oh yeah, I'm into it." 

Gothic was a little worried that he might actually be drooling. With a wicked smile made entirely of heat and promises, Lust looked up into his eye lights and asked, "What do you say? You wanna have a good time~?"

"What the ACTUAL FUCK is goin' on here?!" A furious and all too familiar voice called loudly, startling Gothic out of his living daydream.

Gothic looked past Lust to see his dad, his real dad, standing in the doorway to the basement. Over his shoulders on either side, Gothic could see... Papyrus…es…?

One looked tough. Very tough, even by Gothic's standards. From beneath the raised fur hood of his jacket, Gothic could see a sharp glare and two golden fangs where his eye teeth should be. 

In shocking contrast, the other looked a lot softer, with flat teeth instead of fangs and gentle eyes. He had his magic formed around his torso and was currently showing off waaay too much bright pink ectobody. Gothic glanced away quickly, that was a form he really didn't want to look at too closely.

Lust gave Gothic a last look and a wink before taking a step back to greet the intruders. 

"Oh, heya Red," he said with a pleasant wave. "Is this your boy? He's got good taste."

Gothic's dad just stared for a moment, one eye socket twitching. "What. The. Fuck." He asked again.

"Language, Cherry!" A new voice piped up. His dad's hostile glare shifted to a look of annoyed surprise as he was jostled from behind. Another version of his dad, a little shorter and dressed entirely in blue and white pushed his way up to the front, his blue glove already outstretched in welcome. He was smiling… in a friendly way?!?

"Greetings new friend!" He shouted enthusiastically, grabbing Gothic's hand and giving it a firm shake. Gothic was so surprised he just let it happen. "I haven't seen you around before! I like your hat! My name is Sans, but my friends call me Blueberry! Or Blue, for short! And you're my friend now, so you should call me Blueberry too! Or Blue, for short!

"Holy shit," Gothic laughed, completely unable to even try hiding his smirk. "You're adorable." 

"Language!" Admonished the little skeleton, shaking his finger in a way Gothic guessed was supposed to be a reprimand. "I can see you must be from a Fellverse. That's okay! I have plenty of friends from Fell universes! Now, the most important thing you have to remember is there's no killing here! At all! Okay? Good! So, what was your name?"

Stars, was this guy for real? "I'm-"

"Leaving!" Red snapped, apparently having finally gotten over his shock.

"Leaving?" Blue asked, looking between the two of them. "Oh, is he from your universe, Red? Do you know him? Is 'Leaving' a cultural name? Does it have two E's, or an E and an A?"

Red drug a clawed hand down his face, completely exasperated. "Blue, why'ya gotta do this to me now?"

Blue said nothing and simply waited with a patient smile on his face as he watched Red. Finally, Red rolled his eye lights and sighed. "No, of course his name ain't fuckin' 'Leaving', you damn fruitcake."

"Language!"

"His name is Gothic, but I'm afraid that's all the introductions we're gonna do here, folks." Red lunged forward suddenly, and faster than a blink he'd grabbed Gothic by the arm. "Time to go."

"Shit! Hey, dad! Wait!" Gothic cried out as Red began to drag him over to the machine in the corner.

"Aw, come on Red," the pink Papyrus called. "Can't the boy at least stay for dinner? Comic and his brother should be along soon, and we're having tacos, isn't that right Blue?"

"No!" Red shouted back. "I don't know how he got here, but he don't belong here, and he needs to go HOME."

Red scowled darkly around the room, meeting the eye lights of each monster one by one. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd all keep your traps shut about this and not tell Comic. I'm gonna have that guy up my ass enough as it is without tryin' to explain extra details like this. I'll tell him myself, just… later, 'kay?"

His claws were digging tightly into Gothic's ulna, almost painfully. Gothic shook his arm, testing, but Red's grip didn't change.

"Can't fukin' believe it," Red mumbled under his breath as he typed with one hand on the machine's keyboard. Long, complicated looking formulas and lines of code that Gothic had no hope of understanding flashed across the screen. "I'm stuck down there for 20 some-odd years, but I leave ya' alone with the damn thing for less than a goddamn hour, and suddenly you're defyin' the goddamn laws of time and space to follow me? You're gonna show me exactly what you did, ya hear me?"

"I can't," Gothic admitted. "I used a shortcut." He'd considered lying, but now that he'd seen his dad running the machine he knew there was no use even trying to pretend he knew how it worked.

"A shortcut. To AU02," Red asked, deadpan as he continued to type. He didn't even bother to look over. "Sure. Why not? What are you gonna tell me next, that your brother can teleport too now? Because I know damned well that there ain't a single monster alive in the Underground, includin' you, that's strong enough to make a teleport like that work alone."

"Oh my gosh! You have a brother?" Blueberry piped up suddenly, his eye lights changing into actual star shapes. He grabbed ahold of Gothic's other arm, tugging lightly. "That's so great! I have a brother too! You should come and meet him, right now! He's pretty lazy, but he's great! Although, of course, not as great as-"

Red actually growled out loud, glaring daggers at the little snowpoff and not releasing his grip in the slightest. "Blue, I swear to Asgore, this is not the time! Now, you'd better let go before I decide to do us all a favor and make Stretch an only child!"

"Gosh Red, there's no need to be so rude! I-"

"It wasn't Lombok!" Gothic interrupted, a little more harshly than he intended. It made his bones crawl to be caught between the two like this. "It was Doctor Gaster!"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly got very tense as his dad, Lust, and the gold-toothed Papyrus all stiffened. Then, as one, the three of them began peering quickly around at the shadows in the room. 

The Papyrus, who until now had been standing quietly in the corner like some sort of guard dog, finally spoke up. "Hey, Lust, maybe you and the Blueberry should head back upstairs. I think I hear Graffiti calling for you."

Lust blinked at him for a second, then his eye lights flashed with understanding. "Oh, right! Well, it was lovely to meet you sugarplum. Call me next time you're in town, won't you? We definitely have to get together sometime," He said, brushing his phalanges across Gothic's scapula as he came to remove Blue from his arm.

"Not if I have anythin' to say about it," Red grumbled quietly under his breath, tightening his grip on his son's arm.

"Come on now Blue," Lust continued, ignoring the angry skeleton completely. "What do you say we go upstairs?"

"Aw, but I don't want to!" Blue said with a pout, but Gothic recognized that narrow-eyed, calculating look that flashed across his face. Then it was gone, and Blue's eye lights grew big and round. His voice wavered slightly, like he was on the verge of tears. "I want to stay here with our new friend."

Gothic almost laughed at how blatantly obvious of a manipulation tactic it was. He looked around the room, curious to see which one would call the little fraud out on it. 

But then, nobody did. And to Gothic's utter surprise, they all started looking at each other, uncomfortable. Like they all just had to admit to a little kid that there'd be no Gyftmas this year. Even his dad looked like he'd swallowed something unpleasant.

"Scram, Blue," his dad said harshly, but considering how Gothic had never heard him say anything softer than "fuck off" to get someone out of his face Gothic couldn't help but actually laugh out loud this time. 

"Holy shit," Gothic repeated. "Really?" Somehow, this guy seemed to have all of them wrapped around his littlest phalange.

"Language, and of course really!" the Blueberry smiled back with a wink, and it was clear that he knew exactly what Gothic meant. "You seem like a great friend! And I know we could get along wonderfully!"

"I'm sorry sweetie," Lust said softly, and he actually sounded apologetic, "but I'm going to have to insist. Bro, Lovely, won't you come and join us?"

"Oh, sure, of course I will brother." The pink Papyrus said, confused but agreeable. "Gothic, I look forward to meeting you properly later. Shall we, Blue?"

Blue looked around the group one last time but apparently couldn't find any cracks in their combined armor. Outnumbered, Blue gave up and released Gothic's arm.

"Okay! I guess we'll play later. Bye Gothic!" He said brightly as he allowed himself to be herded out. 

Did no one else hear that note of barely masked irritation in the guy's voice? Gothic was impressed, honestly, at the level of skill it had to take to play all these monsters like this. Then the door to the basement with shut firmly behind them, leaving Gothic alone with his dad and the guard dog.

The room suddenly became very quiet. The only sounds were the three of them breathing, and his dad's occasional curses and continued manipulation of the teleporter.

"I like those guys," Gothic ventured cautiously. "Especially Blue. And uh, the other guy…"

"I shouldn't be surprised that you're into that trollop," Red said with a snort. "I really, really shouldn't be. Blue on the other hand? Didn't see that one comin'. But it ain't like that's the first surprise I've had since coming back here." 

He glanced back at the Papyrus. "By the way, hey Slim, what the fuck did you guys do to this thing? I leave for a little vacation and the code's all twisted into knots? I don't remember it bein' nearly this fuckin' hard to start up before you guys got here"

Slim shrugged, but Gothic could read it in his expression that he didn't think the problem was with the machine. The room lapsed back into silence. 

"So," Gothic asked after another minute. "Do you wanna tell me what that Gaster thing was all about?"

"No, I sure as hell don't," Red said sharply. "And don't say his name, I don't wanna hear it."

"Anything with Gaster is bad news, kid," Slim said.

Red raised his free arm in the air, looking at the ceiling in a 'why me?' sort of way. 

"The fuck did I just say? Am I talkin' to the damn wall here? I ain't sure who the fuck helped him here, but it sure as hell wasn't… Him. I dunno what's going on in your universe, but I don't particularly care, 'cus this ain't a conversation I'm gonna be having in front of the kid, you got me, Slim?"

Red stared hard at Slim, who only shrugged. It seemed to be enough, because Red nodded to himself and said, "Well, good. Now come here, hold him for a sec would ya? I need two hands for this last part and he can teleport."

Silently, Slim came over and did as he was asked, grabbing Gothic by his upper arm. This guy's grip on his arm wasn't as strong as his dad's, and he was pretty sure he'd be able to break free if he tried. 

Gothic took a second to assess his odds. He was pretty sure he was taller, but with the way the other guy was slouching it was hard to be sure. He also hadn't seen the guy move faster than a casual saunter, but Gothic had no idea if that was because he couldn't or if he was simply holding himself back. Most likely the latter, seeing how his dad trusted Slim to hold him. But Gothic knew he was a pretty fast guy himself, and he didn't exactly have to get far to use a shortcut. 

Slim took the sizing up without comment, but once Gothic was done he smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. The light of the fluorescent bulbs reflected off his gold fangs in a way that made him look positively hungry. It was a challenge from predator to prey. 

As much as Gothic bristled against feeling weak, he knew a losing fight when he saw one. Sure, Slim might be bluffing, but he odds weren't as good as he'd hoped, and this guy look like he'd enjoy the hunt a lot more than Gothic would. 

"What now?" Gothic asked instead, looking to his dad. "We just go back? And fix it from the other side?"

Red scowled, looking back at him over his shoulder. "There ain't no 'we' here buddy. Just- Aha! Fuckin' finally!"

There was the sound of a rising mechanical whirr, and then with a pop of electricity, the portal became active, shimmering with an otherworldly light. 

"You're going back, I'm staying here," Red said, pointing with short, quick jabs. "End off story. Let's move."

"What?" Gothic couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Hold on a fucking second, you said you were going back too!"

"Sure, when I'm damn good and ready!" Red snarled, his eye lights growing brighter as he glared. "But you're leaving right fuckin' now and you're not comin' back! Stop arguin'!"

"What? How is that fair?" Despite his earlier reservations, Gothic struggled in earnest now to get free of Slim's hold, but the monster's grip had turned iron tight. Games were over now that the portal was active.

"You think I give a damn about what's fair?!" Red shouted. Magic sparked to life around his claws, and his eye lights burned red hot. "I'm not going back, and I've fuckin' HAD IT with this conversation!"

Gothic paused, staring at him in shock as the realization hit him. "Then I was right before! You are abandoning us!"

"The fuck are you talkin' about?" Red hesitated, still angry but looking genuinely taken aback. "I ain't abandonin' nobody, least of all you, you numskull!"

Beep.

Everyone froze as a low, monotonous beeping suddenly began to drone out through the basement. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

"What's that?" Gothic asked. 

"Call waiting," Slim said, nodding towards a flashing green light on the panel. He looked to Red. "That would be Comic. Looks like time's up."

Red looked like he wanted to scream again. He spent a moment, thrusting his claws in front of him as he mimicked strangling something. Or someone. He pointed towards the machine, wispy red magic trailing after his hand. "Look, you want to talk about it? Then we'll talk about it. Later. Now get through the damn portal!"

Gothic pulled harder against Slim's grip, but the monster had apparently turned to stone for all the give in him. "You can't do this to me, you asshole! I'm not a little kid anymore!!"

"I don't give a damn how old you are! You are my kid, no matter how big you get, and I am tellin' you to go home and stay there!" 

Red took an aggressive step towards him, and Gothic drew in a breath, getting ready to defend himself. He wasn't going down without a fight, not even against his dad. 

"Hey, kid. Gothic," Slim interrupted, pointing towards the machine. "You see that yellow light over there?"

Confused by the sudden change of subject, Gothic followed the line of Slim's arm, looking for the yellow light. He didn't see it. And his dad looked just as confused as he was.

"What? No? I don't see- hey!" He shouted, as Slim unexpectedly released his arm and shoved him hard from behind. 

Caught off guard, he tripped, stumbling right into the portal. As he went through, he could hear his dad shouting from the other side, "The fuck was that?! Don't you fuckin' push my kid, Slim!"

The trip through the portal was nothing like a shortcut. It didn't hurt like whatever Gaster had done, instead it was sickening in a whole new way. Swirling colors consumed him, over bright and weaving through his bones, his very Soul, pulling and stretching him like a piece of taffy. It stretched him further, and further still, until -

SNAP!

Gothic hit the ground hard, still stumbling. The momentum from the other universe continuing to force him forward until he collided with the wall. 

"No!" he screamed, pounding his fists against it. "You can't do this to me!"

He reached out with his magic, searching for the shortcut again. There was nothing, no sign that any portal or shortcut or anything had ever existed. Frantic, he looked around, but he was exactly where he expected to be. His basement, right where Graffiti and his dad had disappeared with the teleporting remote.

"No!" He shouted again!

% Do you wish to go back again…? %

Gaster! He was still here!

"Yes! Stars, yes I do! Please!" Gothic reached up, running his hand under his beanie to touch at his scar.

% Then I need… your magic... More than before... %

"Fine! Of course! Anything you want! Just send me back!"

% Very well… % 

Once again Gothic felt the darkness pulling against his magic, demanding. He didn't hesitate this time, releasing his hold and letting it flow, as much as Gaster needed, as long as it would take him back.

Icy fingers began creeping around his skull, heading towards the puncture wound again. Gothic braced himself for the pain.

% All right now… Another little pinch… %

The fingers dug in, and Gothic howled. It wasn't limited to his head and his arm this time, shooting, burning pain filled his whole body. It felt like someone was hollowing out his bones only to fill them back up with acid. He dropped to the floor, unable to hold himself up any more. His bones were rattling, shaking so hard he was afraid that he'd simply break apart.

Gothic tried to scream again, but he couldn't get a sound out, couldn't get a breath in. He could do nothing but endure it, silently, until without warning, everything simply stopped.

The rattling stopped, the pain stopped, and for a time he just laid there, pant heavily on the floor as he steuggled to regain his breath. He felt exhausted, his entire body feeling wrung out. Drained.

Gothic tried to set up, but found that he couldn't. In fact, he couldn't move at all! Had something gone wrong? Was he paralyzed or something?

"No," he said. But it wasn't him speaking. "Your body is fine. Though, I must admit, that was a bit more shocking than even I anticipated."

Gothic watch, uneasily, from inside his own head as Gaster stood up using his body. He stretched, testing out the limits of Gothic's joints. With growing dismay, Gothic realized he couldn't even control where his eye lights focused. It was beyond unsettling, and the sooner this was over, the better.

% Hey, Doctor Gaster, shouldn't we, you know, be trying to hurry to get back through the portal before it closes again? %

"I'm afraid that wormholes only flow in one direction," Gaster said with a shake of Gothic's head. "The magic that powers your teleportation, or the shortcuts, as you call them, can only flow with them, not against them. We need a wormhole generator or one of it's mobile remotes to return to AU02 or any other."

Gothic struggled to follow the trail of what Gaster was telling him, and he didn't like where it was leading.  
% Wait, so what does that mean? %

Gaster walked around the room, picking up seemingly random objects and examining them for a moment before setting them back down. "It means exactly what I just said. We have to wait until your father returns, and gets the machine working from this side."

% What?! Then why did you want my magic if we have to wait for my dad anyway?! %

Gothic knew the answer. It was a stupid question. He really hoped he was wrong.

"Dear boy, I know that you're not half the fool you're pretending to be." Gaster chuckled as he reached for the doorknob to leave.

"Don't worry, I'm going to be working on it as well. It's just as much in my interest as it is in yours to get it up running again, if not more so." 

% No! Noo! %

Gaster smiled, stretching Gothic's jaw in a grin wider than he'd ever thought it could go. 

"But, before we get to all that, I have a few errands I'd like to run. I'm sure you don't mind, right?"

With that, Gaster pulled open the basement door and step out into the cold Snowdin air with Gothic trapped, screaming helplessly into the void of his own mind.


End file.
